CN106899385B

CN106899385B - Master station and method for HEW communication

Info

Publication number: CN106899385B
Application number: CN201710063899.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 沙纳兹·艾兹兹; 托马斯·J·肯尼; 国庆·C·李; 埃尔达德·佩拉亚; 罗伯特·J·斯泰西
Original assignee: Intel IP Corp
Current assignee: Ax Wireless Co ltd
Priority date: 2013-11-19
Filing date: 2014-11-12
Publication date: 2020-09-01
Anticipated expiration: 2034-11-12
Also published as: EP3182635B1; CN106464652A; EP3182635A1; US20160242173A1; BR112016008789B1; WO2015076917A1; US9961678B2; BR112016008789A2; WO2015077096A1; CN106105080B; EP3072254A1; CN106464652B; CN106899385A; EP3072254B1; CN106105080A; BR112016008789A8; EP3072254A4

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a master station and method for HEW communication. Embodiments of a transmission signaling structure for HEW are defined to carry packet information for configuring an OFDMA receiver for demodulating a particular portion of a packet and/or for configuring a receiver to transmit using particular OFDMA and MU-MIMO resources. In some embodiments, the particular portion of the packet includes one or more minimum bandwidth units of one or more 20MHz channels. Each 20MHz bandwidth structure may include a number of minimum bandwidth units to allow each 20MHz segment to have a granularity less than 20 MHz.

Description

Master station and method for HEW communication

Description of divisional applications

The present application is a divisional application entitled "master station and method for HEW communication using a transmission signaling structure of HEW signal field" filed as filing date 11/12/2014, application number 201480056246.9.

Priority declaration

This application claims benefit of priority from U.S. patent application serial No. 14/458,000, filed on 12/8/2014, which claims benefit of priority from the following U.S. provisional patent applications:

19/12/2013, serial number 61/906,059,

4/1/2014, serial number 61/973,376,

4/8/2014, serial number 61/976,951,

4/30/2014, serial number 61/986,256,

4/30/2014, serial number 61/986,250,

5/12/2014, serial number 61/991,730,

6/18/2014, serial number 62/013,869,

7/15/2014, serial number 62/024,813,

year 2014, day 5, month 08, serial number 61/990,414,

7 month 15 day submission 2014, serial number 62/024,801, and

7/18/2014, serial number 62/026,277,

these applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Technical Field

Embodiments relate to wireless networks. Some embodiments relate to Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), Wi-Fi networks, and networks operating according to one of the IEEE802.11 standards, such as the IEEE802.11ac standard or the IEEE802.11ax SIG (known as DensiFi). Some embodiments relate to high efficiency wireless or high efficiency wlan (hew) communications.

Background

IEEE802.11ax (known as high efficiency WLAN (hew)) is a successor to the IEEE802.11ac standard and is intended to improve the efficiency of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). One goal of HEW is to provide up to four or more times higher throughput (compared to that of the IEEE802.11ac standard). HEW is particularly applicable to high-density hotspot and cellular offload scenarios, where many devices competing for the wireless medium may have low-to-moderate data rate requirements. The Wi-Fi standard has evolved from IEEE802.11b to IEEE802.11 g/a, to IEEE802.11 n, to IEEE802.11ac, and now to IEEE802.11 ax. In each evolution of these standards, there is a mechanism that can coexist with previous standards. The same requirements exist for HEW to coexist with these legacy standards. One problem with HEW is the efficient allocation and use of bandwidth.

Accordingly, there is a general need for systems and methods that allow HEW devices to coexist with legacy devices. There is also a general need for systems and methods that allow HEW devices to coexist with legacy devices and more efficiently allocate and use the available bandwidth.

Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates a HEW network according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2A illustrates a conventional packet structure;

fig. 2B illustrates a HEW packet structure according to some embodiments;

figure 3 illustrates OFDMA subchannel configurations for 20MHz channels, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified OFDMA subchannel configuration for a 20MHz channel in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates a functional block diagram of a HEW device according to some embodiments; and

fig. 6 illustrates a process for HEW communication by a master station, in accordance with some embodiments.

Detailed Description

The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments, implementations of which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in or substituted for those of others. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

Fig. 1 illustrates a HEW network according to some embodiments. The HEW network 100 may include a master Station (STA)102, a plurality of HEW stations 104(HEW devices), and a plurality of legacy devices 106 (legacy stations). The master station 102 may be arranged to communicate with HEW stations 104 and legacy devices 106 in accordance with one or more of the IEEE802.11 standards. According to some HEW embodiments, the master station 102 and HEW stations 104 may communicate according to the IEEE802.11ax standard. In accordance with some HEW embodiments, access point 102 may operate as a master station that may be scheduled to contend for a wireless medium (e.g., during a contention period) to receive exclusive control of the medium for a HEW control period (i.e., transmission opportunity (TXOP)). The master station may send an HEW master sync transmission at the beginning of the HEW control period. During the HEW control time period, scheduled HEW stations 104 may communicate with the master station according to a non-contention based multiple access technique. This is different from conventional Wi-Fi communications, where devices communicate according to a contention-based communication technique rather than a multiple access technique. During the HEW control time period, the master station may communicate with HEW stations using one or more HEW frames. During the HEW control period, the legacy stations refrain from communicating. In some embodiments, the master-sync transmission may be referred to as a HEW control and schedule transmission.

In some embodiments, the multiple access technique used during the HEW control period may be a scheduled Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) technique, but this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technique or a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA) technique. The communication during the control period may be uplink communication or downlink communication.

The master station 102 may also communicate with legacy stations 106 in accordance with legacy IEEE802.11 communication techniques. In some embodiments, the master station 102 may also be configured to communicate with HEW stations 104 according to conventional IEEE802.11 communication techniques outside of the HEW control period, although this is not a requirement.

In some embodiments, the data fields of the HEW frames may be configured to have the same bandwidth, and the bandwidth may be one of: 20MHz, 40MHz, or 80MHz continuous bandwidth or 80+80MHz (160MHz) discontinuous bandwidth. In some embodiments, a 320MHz continuous bandwidth may be used. In these embodiments, each data field of the HEW frame may be configured to transmit several spatial streams. In some embodiments, the data field of the HEW frame may be transmitted within an OFDMA subchannel having one or more minimum bandwidth units. These embodiments are discussed in more detail below.

In some embodiments, the transmission signaling structure is used to carry packet information (e.g., HEW frames) used to configure a device (e.g., HEW stations 104) to demodulate a particular portion of a packet and/or to configure a device to transmit or receive using particular OFDMA and MU-MIMO resources. In some embodiments, a particular portion of a packet may include one or more minimum bandwidth units of one or more 20MHz bandwidth structures (e.g., channels). Each 20MHz bandwidth structure may include a number of minimum bandwidth units to allow each 20MHz segment to have a granularity less than 20 MHz. Some embodiments disclosed herein may provide signaling designs to configure OFDMA receivers in next generation Wi-Fi standards, such as high efficiency wlan (hew) (i.e., ieee802.11ax task group), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Since one of the main use cases for HEW is dense deployment, where many devices attempt to access the medium at moderate data rates, techniques are needed that allow more simultaneous access to the devices. The current IEEE802.11ac specification allows bandwidths up to 160MHz with eight simultaneous multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) streams. The HEW is interested in providing access to many devices using this wide bandwidth. Some embodiments disclosed herein define a transmission signaling structure that carries packet information for configuring an OFDMA receiver and/or for configuring an incoming OFDMA transmission by a device at a receiving end.

Some embodiments disclosed herein define a transport signaling structure that is efficient, scalable, and decodable by devices operating in 20MHz mode, which is not provided by DensiFi or other proposals in IEEE to date. In accordance with some embodiments, the transmission structure is configured to carry packet information for configuring the OFDMA receiver such that the receiver may demodulate a particular portion of the packet (e.g., a particular OFDMA resource and/or MU-MIMO stream) and/or for configuring the receiver to transmit using particular OFDMA and MU-MIMO resources. The inventive structure can use a minimum bandwidth of 20MHz, and it is modular and scalable to higher bandwidths that are multiples of 20MHz (e.g., traditional Wi-Fi bandwidth operation of 40MHz, 80MHz, and 160 MHz). Each 20MHz structure may in turn be configured with one or more OFDMA subchannels of a minimum bandwidth unit. These embodiments allow HEW stations 104 to be configured such that HEW stations 104 are configured for OFDMA communication in the uplink direction and OFDMA communication in the downlink direction.

One design goal for HEW is to take measures to improve Wi-Fi efficiency, especially in dense deployments. Based on this goal for HEW, techniques to improve physical layer (PHY) efficiency, such as OFDMA techniques, have been proposed. Embodiments disclosed herein provide a new packet structure that can be used to configure an OFDMA receiver.

Fig. 2A illustrates a conventional packet structure. As can be seen in FIG. 2A, in IEEE802.11ac, VHT-SIG-A is repeated in each 20MHz channel 202. Further, the VHT-SIG-a transmission uses an ieee802.11a compatible waveform containing only 48 data subcarriers.

Fig. 2B illustrates a HEW packet structure according to some embodiments. Embodiments disclosed herein do not repeat the signal field in each segment, but rather transmit a separate signal field (e.g., HEW signal field 212) in each 20MHz channel 202 that configures the recipient station. Some embodiments may use fifty-two (52) data subcarriers (e.g., instead of 48), providing more subcarriers to carry signaling information. As shown in fig. 2B, the transmission signaling structure 200 may include a separate HEW signal field (HEW-SIG-a)212 for each 20MHz channel of the plurality of 20MHz channels 202. Each HEW signal field 212 may configure one or more of the scheduled HEW stations 104 for communication over one or more OFDMA SUB-channels (SUB-CH) of an associated one of the 20MHz channels 202 in accordance with the OFDMA technique. Each 20MHz channel 202 may be configured to include one or

more fields

214, 216 following the HEW signal field 212. In some embodiments, a HEW short training field (HEW-STF)214 and a data field 216 may also be included in the transmission signaling structure 200. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

According to an embodiment, the master station 102 may be configured to generate a packet including a transmission signaling structure 200 that configures scheduled HEW stations 104 for communication on channel resources according to an OFDMA technique. The channel resources may comprise one or more OFDMA subchannels within legacy 20MHz channel 202. Each OFDMA subchannel may include one or more minimum bandwidth units having a predetermined bandwidth.

As discussed previously, the HEW OFDMA structure may have a granularity less than 20 MHz. Thus, each HEW signal field 212 scheduled for Downlink (DL) or Uplink (UL) OFDMA may configure an OFDMA structure within each 20MHz segment. These embodiments are discussed in more detail below.

Figure 3 illustrates OFDMA subchannel configurations for 20MHz channels, in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. 3 shows

subchannel configurations

312A, 312B, 312C, 312D, 312E, and 312F.

Figure 4 illustrates a simplified OFDMA subchannel configuration for a 20MHz channel in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. 4 shows

subchannel configurations

312A, 312E, and 312F.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, in accordance with some embodiments, the transmission signaling structure 20 (fig. 2) may configure scheduled HEW stations 104 (fig. 1) for communication over channel resources in accordance with OFDMA techniques, and the channel resources may include one or more OFDMA subchannels 302 within the 20MHz channel 202. As shown in fig. 3 and 4, each OFDMA subchannel 302 may include one or more minimum bandwidth units having a predetermined bandwidth. In these embodiments, the transport signaling structure may include a separate signal field (e.g., HEW signal field 212 (fig. 2)) for each 20MHz channel to configure the HEW stations 104 for OFDMA communications (i.e., downlink communications or uplink communications) during the OFDMA control period.

In some embodiments, each minimum bandwidth unit may be, for example, 4.75MHz, and each OFDMA subchannel 302 may include up to four minimum bandwidth units, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, each 20MHz channel 202 may include up to four OFDMA subchannels 302, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In these embodiments, the size of the minimum bandwidth unit is fixed, but the size of OFDMA subchannels 302 is allowed to vary based on the number of minimum bandwidth units.

As mentioned above, a separate HEW signal field 212 (e.g., HEW-SIG-a) may be provided for each 20MHz channel of the plurality of 20MHz channels, and each HEW signal field 212 may configure one or more of the scheduled HEW stations 104 for communication over one or more OFDMA subchannels 302 of an associated one of the 20MHz channels 202 in accordance with the OFDMA technique. In these embodiments, the transmission of separate and possibly different HEW signal fields 212 on each 20MHz channel 202 allows the OFDMA structure of each 20MHz channel to be configured separately (e.g., different number of sub-channels 302, different communication parameters such as MCS, etc.). These embodiments are discussed in more detail below. In some embodiments, transmission signaling structure 200 may be a preamble, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, each HEW signal field 212 may be a 20MHz transmission on an associated one of the 20MHz channels 202, and each of the separate HEW signal fields 212 may be configured to transmit simultaneously on the associated one of the 20MHz channels 202. Thus, different HEW signal fields 212 may be transmitted simultaneously on each 20MHz channel.

In some embodiments, each HEW signal field 212 is arranged to configure scheduled HEW stations 104 for communication on up to four OFDMA subchannels 302 within each 20MHz channel 202. In these example embodiments, each 20MHz channel 202 may be divided into up to four minimum bandwidth units, each associated with an OFDMA subchannel 302.

In some embodiments, each OFDMA subchannel 302 may include one to four minimum bandwidth units of a predetermined bandwidth within each 20MHz channel. In these embodiments, since the minimum bandwidth unit has a predetermined bandwidth, the number of minimum bandwidth units within a 20MHz channel will also be fixed. However, the number of OFDMA subchannels 302 within 20MHz channel 202 may vary, as each OFDMA subchannel 302 may be configured with several minimum bandwidth units (e.g., between one and four).

In some embodiments, the predetermined bandwidth of the minimum bandwidth unit is 4.375 MHz. In some embodiments, the predetermined bandwidth is defined by a predetermined number of subcarriers and a predetermined subcarrier spacing. In some embodiments, the predetermined number of subcarriers is fourteen (14) and the predetermined subcarrier spacing is 312.5KHz, thereby providing a predetermined bandwidth of 4.375. In these embodiments, a 64-point FFT may be used.

In some other embodiments, a 256-point FFT may be used. In these other embodiments using a 256-point FFT, for example, the predetermined number of subcarriers of the minimum bandwidth unit may be 14 × 4 ═ 56, and the predetermined subcarrier spacing may be 312.5/4 ═ 78.125 KHz.

In other embodiments (not shown separately), each HEW signal field 212 may configure scheduled HEW stations 104 (e.g., for scheduled HEW stations 104 bearer configurations) for communication on up to eight or more OFDMA subchannels within each 20MHz channel 202. In these other embodiments, for example, each 20MHz channel 202 may be divided into up to eight or more minimum bandwidth units, and each minimum bandwidth unit may be less than 4.375 MHz.

In some embodiments, the HEW signal field 212 for each 20MHz channel may be generated to include an indicator indicating the subchannel configuration of the associated 20MHz channel. The subchannel configuration may include at least a number of minimum bandwidth units. The subchannel configurations may also include information (e.g., communication parameters) for transmission within OFDMA subchannels 302 during the OFDMA control period, including, for example, a length indicator of a minimum bandwidth unit and a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) indicator. Thus, different communication parameters (e.g., MCS) may be used for each 20MHz channel 202, and in some embodiments for each OFDMA subchannel 302.

In some embodiments, the indicator in the HEW signal field 212 indicating the subchannel configuration for each 20MHz channel may indicate one of a plurality of subchannel configurations (e.g.,

subchannel configurations

312A, 312B, 312C, 312D, 312E, and 312F). In the example shown in fig. 3 and 4, subchannel configuration 312A may include four OFDMA subchannels 302, wherein each OFDMA subchannel 302 includes a single minimum bandwidth unit. Subchannel configuration 312B/C/D may comprise three OFDMA subchannels 302, wherein two of the three OFDMA subchannels 302 comprise a single minimum bandwidth unit and one of the three OFDMA subchannels 302 comprises two adjacent minimum bandwidth units. Subchannel configuration 312E may comprise two OFDMA subchannels 302, wherein each OFDMA subchannel 302 comprises two adjacent minimum bandwidth units. Subchannel configuration 312F may comprise a single OFDMA subchannel 302, which single OFDMA subchannel 302 comprises four contiguous minimum bandwidth units.

For example, the HEW signal field 212 may indicate the use of MCS #1 in the 10MHz subchannel 302 of the subchannel configuration 312E. In some embodiments, the indicator may indicate a particular subchannel configuration (i.e., subchannel configuration 312B, subchannel configuration 312C, or subchannel configuration 312D), which may define the location and number of different subchannels 302 within channel 202. As shown in fig. 3, for example, each 20MHz channel 202 may be configured according to any one of a plurality of subchannel configurations (e.g., subchannel configuration 312A, subchannel configuration 312B, subchannel configuration 312C, subchannel configuration 312D, subchannel configuration 312E, or subchannel configuration 312F).

In some embodiments, up to 52 subcarriers of a 20MHz channel (i.e., instead of 48 in the legacy VHT-SIG-a 211 (fig. 2A)) may be used for data communication according to OFDMA techniques during the OFDMA control period. These embodiments are discussed in more detail below.

In some embodiments, each 20MHz channel 202 may be configured to include one or

more fields

214, 216 following the HEW signal field 212. In some embodiments, the one or

more fields

214, 216 may be configured to include a minimum of four 4.375MHz minimum bandwidth units that are interleaved with null subcarriers in addition to the null subcarriers at DC and are further configured to include one or more additional/extra null subcarriers around DC and at the band edges to cover the 20MHz bandwidth of each 20MHz channel. For example, for data field 216, when the predetermined number of subcarriers of the minimum bandwidth unit is fourteen and the predetermined subcarrier spacing is 312.5KHz to provide a predetermined bandwidth of 4.375, 56 subcarriers of the minimum bandwidth unit may include at least one pilot subcarrier, allowing up to 52 subcarriers in total for data, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. On the other hand, the HEW-SIG 212 would transmit using the entire 20MHz bandwidth (using 52 data tones and 4 pilot tones), for example.

In some embodiments, transmission signaling structure 200 may include a HEW Scheduling (SCH) field that indicates particular time and frequency resources of OFDMA subchannels 302 for each scheduled station 104 for communicating with primary station 102 in accordance with OFDMA techniques during an OFDMA control time period. In some embodiments, the HEW scheduling field may have a separate encoding (i.e., may be a separate field) and may follow the HEW signal field 212, although this is not required. In other embodiments, the HEW scheduling field may be part of the HEW signal field 212. In some embodiments, the scheduling information may be part of HEW signal field 212 rather than a separate HEW scheduling field, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the scheduling information may be included in a data field, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, master station 102 may allocate bandwidth to scheduled HEW stations 104 based on a minimum bandwidth unit for communicating with master station 102 during OFDMA control time periods during which master station 102 has exclusive control of the wireless medium (i.e., during a TXOP). In these embodiments, the minimum bandwidth unit may be configured to be time and frequency multiplexed during the data field 216 (fig. 2), which may occur within the OFDMA control period. During the control period, packets are received from scheduled HEW stations 104 according to an uplink Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA) technique using OFDAM or transmitted to scheduled HEW stations 104 according to a downlink multiplexing technique using OFDMA (i.e., uplink or downlink data during data field 216 (fig. 2) may be communicated with the scheduled HEW stations).

In some embodiments, the data field 216 may be configured for both downlink and uplink transmissions. In these embodiments, the scheduling information in the HEW SIG 212 or SCH field may include downlink and uplink scheduling information. In these embodiments, after the primary station 102 makes a downlink transmission in the data field 216, the primary station 102 may receive an uplink transmission from a scheduled station within the data field 216 after a certain inter-frame spacing (e.g., SIFS).

In some embodiments, HEW signal field 212 may also include configuration parameters such as a STBC (1 bit) indicator (indicating whether space-time block coding (STBC) is used), a group ID (6 bits) indicator (enabling the receiver to decide whether the data payload is single-user (SU) or multi-user (MU)), a number of space-time streams (e.g., 3 bits) indicator (indicating the number of space-time streams), an LDPC extra symbol for LDPC coding (e.g., 1 bit) indicator, an MCS field containing an MCS index value for the payload, a beamforming (e.g., 1 bit) indicator (indicating the time at which a beamforming matrix is applied to the transmission), a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) (allowing detection of errors in HEW signal field 212). This is different from the legacy VHT-SIG-a-211 (fig. 2A) that requires a bandwidth indicator. In these embodiments, the HEW signal field 212 would not require a bandwidth indicator because the HEW signal field 212 is not repeated on each 20MHz channel and the VHT-SIG-a 211 is repeated on each 20MHz channel, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect as bandwidth indicators may be included to simplify receiver implementations.

In some embodiments, these configuration parameters may be used for each different subchannel configuration 312A through 312F. This may result in a longer HEW signal field 212 (e.g., 6 or 8 OFDMA symbols) compared to VHT-SIG-a 211.

In some alternative embodiments, one or more of the same configuration parameters may be scheduled (e.g., the same STBC or using LDPC) across all configurations (i.e., subchannel configurations 312A-312F) to reduce the overhead of HEW signal field 212. For example, if the same STBC were to be used for all subchannel configurations, the STBC bits would not need to be repeated for each subchannel configuration, but would only be sent once (e.g., in a primary synchronization transmission) for all minimum bandwidth units. This may allow the HEW signal field 212 to be shorter compared to the legacy VHT-SIG-a 211.

As discussed above, in some embodiments, one or more fields in HEW transmission signaling structure 200 may be configured to include a number of minimum bandwidth units interleaved with null subcarriers (i.e., except for null subcarriers at DC), and may include one or more additional/extra null subcarriers around DC and at band edges to cover the 20MHz bandwidth of each 20MHz channel. In some embodiments, the addition of null subcarriers may alleviate implementation requirements for synchronization, DC-cancellation, power amplifier, and filtering.

In some embodiments, 20MHz channel 202 may be configured with two wider subchannels, and each subchannel includes a bandwidth of 2 x 4.375MHz minimum bandwidth units. In these embodiments, the waveforms transmitted in each 2 x 4.375MHz bandwidth may be different from the two waveforms to be transmitted in each single 4.375MHz minimum bandwidth unit.

Some embodiments may simplify the design by allowing only a subset of the OFDMA configuration (e.g., the subchannel configuration of fig. 4 instead of the subchannel configuration of fig. 3). Such simplification reduces the information required to configure the receiver and thus reduces signaling overhead, thus improving overall system efficiency.

Some embodiments may limit the number of scheduled HEW stations 104 allocated in each minimum bandwidth unit (e.g., to four multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) users). These embodiments may allow the number of spatial streams to be reduced up to three streams per user. Limiting the number of MU-MIMO users to four can be carried using only two information bits, and limiting the number of spatial streams to up to three using the other two information bits. These limitations may also reduce signaling overhead in HEW signal field 212, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Some embodiments disclosed herein provide a modular and scalable OFDMA structure. The basic mechanism may, for example, configure four minimum bandwidth units or several combinations of minimum bandwidth units (e.g., 4.375MHz and 2 x 4.375 MHz).

Fig. 5 illustrates a functional block diagram of a HEW device according to some embodiments. HEW device 500 may be an HEW-compatible device that may be arranged to communicate with one or more other HEW devices, such as HEW station 104 (fig. 1) or master station 102 (fig. 1), as well as legacy devices. HEW device 500 may be adapted to operate as master station 102 (fig. 1) or HEW station 104 (fig. 1). According to an embodiment, the HEW device 500 may include a physical layer (PHY) circuit 502 and a medium access control layer circuit (MAC)504, among others. PHY 502 and MAC 504 may be HEW compatible layers and may also be compatible with one or more legacy IEEE802.11 standards. PHY 502 and MAC 504 may be arranged to transmit HEW frames according to the structures and techniques disclosed herein. The HEW device 500 may also include other processing circuitry 506 and memory 508 configured to perform various operations described herein.

In accordance with some HEW embodiments, MAC 504 may be arranged to contend for the wireless medium during a contention period to receive control of the medium during the HEW control period and to configure an HEW frame. PHY 502 may be arranged to send transport signaling structures within HEW frames as discussed above. PHY 502 may also be arranged to communicate with HEW station 104 in accordance with OFDMA techniques. MAC 504 may also be arranged to perform transmit and receive operations through PHY 502. PHY 502 may include circuitry for modulation/demodulation, up/down conversion, filtering, amplification, and so forth. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 506 may include one or more processors. In some embodiments, two or more antennas may be coupled to physical layer circuitry and may be arranged to transmit and receive signals including transmissions of HEW frames. The memory 508 may store information for configuring the processing circuit 506 to perform operations for HEW communication and to perform various operations described herein. In some embodiments, the HEW device 500 may include one or more radios (e.g., WLAN radios and cellular/LTE radios) for communicating with different types of networks.

In some embodiments, HEW device 500 may be configured to communicate over a multicarrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals. In some embodiments, HEW device 500 may be configured to receive signals in accordance with a particular communication standard (e.g., an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard, including the IEEE 802.11-2012, 802.11n-2009, and/or 802.11ac-2013 standards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs including the proposed HEW standard), although the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect as they may also be suitable for transmitting and/or receiving communications in accordance with other techniques and standards. In some other embodiments, HEW device 500 may be configured to receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques, such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) modulation, and/or Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, HEW device 500 may be part of a portable wireless communication device, such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone or smartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), or other device that may receive and/or transmit information wirelessly. In some embodiments, the HEW device 500 may include one or more of the following: a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, speakers, and other mobile device elements. The display may be an LCD screen including a touch screen.

The antennas of HEW device 500 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, antennas may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and different channel characteristics that may result between each antenna and the antennas of a transmitting station.

Although HEW device 500 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements (e.g., processing elements including Digital Signal Processors (DSPs)) and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements of HEW device 500 may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

In some embodiments, when the HEW device is operating as a HEW station 104, hardware processing circuitry of the HEW device may be configured to receive a HEW signal field (HEW-SIG-a) from the master station 102 on one of a plurality of 20MHz channels. The HEW signal field may configure the HEW stations 104 for communication over one or more OFDMA subchannels of an associated one of the 20MHz channels in accordance with the OFDMA technique. The channel resources may comprise one or more OFDMA subchannels within a 20MHz channel. HEW stations 104 may also be configured to transmit data with master station 102 on the indicated OFDMA sub-channel based on the configuration information received in the HEW signal field. Each OFDMA subchannel may include one or more minimum bandwidth units having a predetermined bandwidth. In these embodiments, the received HEW signal field may include an indicator indicating the subchannel configuration of the associated 20MHz channel. The subchannel configuration may include at least a number of minimum bandwidth units. The received HEW signal field may also include information for transmitting within the subchannel during the OFDMA control period, including a length indicator and a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) indicator for a minimum bandwidth unit.

Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage device may include any non-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storage device may include Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other storage devices and media. Some embodiments may include one or more processors and may be configured with instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device.

Fig. 6 illustrates a process for HEW communication by a master station, in accordance with some embodiments. Process 600 may be performed by an access point operating as a master station 102 for communicating with a plurality of HEW stations 104.

In operation 602, the master station 102 may generate a packet that includes a transport signaling structure that configures scheduled HEW stations 104 for communication on channel resources in accordance with an OFDMA technique. The channel resources may include one or more OFDMA subchannels within a 20MHz channel, and each OFDMA subchannel may include one or more minimum bandwidth units having a predetermined bandwidth.

In operation 604, the transmission signaling structure may be configured to include a separate HEW signal field (e.g., HEW-SIG-a) for each 20MHz channel of the plurality of 20MHz channels, and each HEW signal field may be arranged to configure one or more of the scheduled HEW stations 104 for communication on one or more OFDMA subchannels of an associated one of the 20MHz channels in accordance with the OFDMA technique. Each HEW signal field may be a 20MHz transmission on an associated one of the 20MHz channels, and each of the separate HEW signal fields may be configured to transmit simultaneously on the associated one of the 20MHz channels.

In operation 606, the HEW signal field for each 20MHz channel may be configured to include an indicator indicating the subchannel configuration of the associated 20MHz channel. The subchannel configuration may include at least a number of minimum bandwidth units. The HEW signal field for each 20MHz channel may also be configured to include information for transmission within the sub-channel during the OFDMA control period, including a length indicator of a minimum bandwidth unit and an MCS indicator.

After generating the HEW signal field in operation 606, the master station 102 transmits a packet including the HEW signal field 212 and any other fields, e.g., field 214 (fig. 2), to the scheduled station 104 for subsequent transmission of downlink and/or uplink data in the data field 216, as discussed above.

The abstract is provided to comply with section 37c.f.r 1.72(b), which requires an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scope or meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

1. An apparatus of a wireless device, comprising: a memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuitry configured to:

encoding a high-efficiency HE packet comprising a plurality of HE signal HE-SIG fields, each of the HE-SIG fields comprising an indicator of: the indicator indicates a resource unit, RU, arrangement in frequency for one of a plurality of 20MHz frequency bands, wherein each HE-SIG field configures an HE station to receive a data portion of the HE packet in a respective 20MHz frequency band, and wherein each of the HE-SIG fields is individually encoded for transmission on the respective 20MHz frequency band of the HE packet; and

configuring the HE packet for transmission by the wireless device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indicator further indicates a number of RUs allocated to multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO).

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the RU arrangement includes a mix of different RU sizes for the respective 20MHz bands.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each HE-SIG field further comprises configuration parameters for each RU arranged for the RU, the configuration parameters comprising one or more of the following fields: an indication of a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, an indicator of whether low density parity check code is used, and an indication of whether beamforming is used.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

encoding the data portion of each HE packet with data encoded according to the following configuration parameters: the configuration parameter is associated with each RU of the RU arrangement of the plurality of RU arrangements on the respective 20MHz frequency band.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

a cyclic redundancy check is encoded for each HE-SIG field.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each HE-SIG field further comprises configuration parameters for each RU of the RU arrangement, and wherein the configuration parameters comprise an indicator indicating whether the RU arrangement is a single-user SU RU arrangement or a multiple-user MU RU arrangement and indicating multiple space-time streams.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the wireless device and the HE station is one of the following group: an institute of Electrical and electronics Engineers IEEE802.11 access point, an IEEE802.11 station, an IEEE802.11ax access point, and an IEEE802.11ax station.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the physical circuitry.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a plurality of antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry.

11. A method performed by an apparatus, the method comprising:

configuring the HE packet for transmission by a wireless device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the RU arrangements include a mix of different RU sizes for the respective 20MHz bands.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein each HE-SIG field further comprises configuration parameters for each RU arranged for the RU, the configuration parameters comprising one or more of the following fields: an indication of a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, an indicator of whether low density parity check code is used, and an indication of whether beamforming is used.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by one or more processors, the instructions to configure the one or more processors to cause an apparatus to:

configuring the HE packet for transmission by a wireless device.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the indicator further indicates a number of RUs allocated to multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO).

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the RU arrangements include a mix of different RU sizes for the respective 20MHz bands.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein each HE-SIG field further includes configuration parameters for each RU arranged for the RU, the configuration parameters including one or more of the following fields: an indication of a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, an indicator of whether low density parity check code is used, and an indication of whether beamforming is used.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions further configure the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:

19. An apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) station, the apparatus comprising: a memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuitry configured to:

decoding a high-efficiency HE packet, the HE packet comprising a plurality of HE signal HE-SIG fields, each of the HE-SIG fields comprising an indicator of: the indicator indicates a resource unit, RU, arrangement in frequency for one of a plurality of 20MHz frequency bands, wherein each HE-SIG field configures the HE station to receive a data portion of the HE packet in a respective 20MHz frequency band, and wherein each of the HE-SIG fields is individually encoded for transmission on the respective 20MHz frequency band; and

decoding data portions of respective 20MHz bands of an RU indicating HE-SIG fields of the HE stations arranged in accordance with the RU.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the indicator further indicates a number of RUs allocated to multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO).

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the RU arrangement includes a mix of different RU sizes for the respective 20MHz bands.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein each HE-SIG field further comprises configuration parameters for each RU arranged for the RU, the configuration parameters comprising one or more of the following fields: an indication of a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, an indicator of whether low density parity check code is used, and an indication of whether beamforming is used.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

decoding the data portion, wherein the data is encoded according to the following configuration parameters: the configuration parameters are associated with respective 20MHz frequency bands of an RU-SIG field indicating the HE station according to the RU arrangement.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the physical circuitry; and a plurality of antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry.

25. A method performed by an apparatus, the method comprising:

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the indicator further indicates a number of RUs allocated to multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO).

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the RU arrangements include a mix of different RU sizes for the respective 20MHz bands.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein each HE-SIG field further comprises configuration parameters for each RU scheduled for the RU, the configuration parameters comprising one or more of the following fields: an indication of a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, an indicator of whether low density parity check code is used, and an indication of whether beamforming is used.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

30. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by one or more processors, the instructions to configure the one or more processors to cause an apparatus to:

31. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein the indicator further indicates a number of RUs allocated to multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO).

32. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein the RU arrangements include a mix of different RU sizes for the respective 20MHz bands.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein each HE-SIG field further includes configuration parameters for each RU arranged for the RU, the configuration parameters including one or more of the following fields: an indication of a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, an indicator of whether low density parity check code is used, and an indication of whether beamforming is used.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein the instructions further configure the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:

35. An apparatus for a High Efficiency (HE) station, comprising:

means for decoding a high-efficiency HE packet comprising a plurality of HE signal HE-SIG fields, each of the HE-SIG fields comprising an indicator of: the indicator indicates a resource unit, RU, arrangement in frequency for one of a plurality of 20MHz frequency bands, wherein each HE-SIG field configures the HE station to receive a data portion of the HE packet in a respective 20MHz frequency band, and wherein each of the HE-SIG fields is individually encoded for transmission on the respective 20MHz frequency band; and

means for decoding data portions of respective 20MHz bands of an HE-SIG field indicating the HE stations according to the RU scheduled.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the indicator further indicates a number of RUs allocated to multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO).

37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the RU arrangement includes a mix of different RU sizes for the respective 20MHz bands.

38. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein each HE-SIG field further comprises configuration parameters for each RU arranged for the RU, the configuration parameters comprising one or more of the following fields: an indication of a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, an indicator of whether low density parity check code is used, and an indication of whether beamforming is used.

39. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising:

means for decoding the data portion, wherein the data is encoded according to the following configuration parameters: the configuration parameters are associated with respective 20MHz frequency bands of an RU-SIG field indicating the HE station according to the RU arrangement.

40. An apparatus for a wireless device, comprising:

means for encoding a high-efficiency HE packet comprising a plurality of HE signal HE-SIG fields, each of the HE-SIG fields comprising an indicator of: the indicator indicates a resource unit, RU, arrangement in frequency for one of a plurality of 20MHz frequency bands, wherein each HE-SIG field configures an HE station to receive a data portion of the HE packet in a respective 20MHz frequency band, and wherein each of the HE-SIG fields is individually encoded for transmission on the respective 20MHz frequency band of the HE packet; and

means for configuring the HE packet for transmission by a wireless device.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the RU arrangement includes a mix of different RU sizes for the respective 20MHz bands.

42. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein each HE-SIG field further comprises configuration parameters for each RU arranged for the RU, the configuration parameters comprising one or more of the following fields: an indication of a modulation and coding scheme, MCS, an indicator of whether low density parity check code is used, and an indication of whether beamforming is used.